Sikorsky Product History

S-64 Skycrane (CH-54 Tarhe)

Background

With the success of the experimental S-60 flying crane helicopter Sikorsky received corporate approval to proceed with the development of a production prototype, the S-64 Skycrane. This was to be more powerful than the S-60 and use turbine engines rather than the piston engines of the S-60. The basic mission was heavy cargo transport, with quick, safe and efficient turn-around time due to the external cargo configuration. This mission was later expanded to include a method of internal transport, particularly of troops, using a pod attached to the underside of the aircraft . First flight of the S-64 was on May 9, 1962, only 13 months from program go-ahead. Only two months later, in July 1962 the aircraft was flown to Ft. Benning Georgia for army evaluation. Up to this time, everything was company funded. The U.S. Army bought six S-64s for evaluation at a cost of $13 million. They designated it the CH-54A Tarhe. Four of these aircraft eventually went to Vietnam to assist in the war effort. The German government also bought two for evaluation. A U.S. Army production order followed the initial Vietnam evaluation. The Germans did not buy any Skycranes, preferring the CH-53A with its internal cabin.

Initially the aircraft were designated the S-64A. With production order from the Army including numerous configuration and performance changes, including wider chord blades, the aircraft were designated the CH-54A by the Army and the S-64E in Sikorsky terminology. After a number of years of production, the mission capabilities were expanded again with the CH-54B/S-64F configuration

S-64 in early hover flight

Configuration Features

Like the S-60 before it, the main feature of the S-64 Skycrane was its basic configuration with no cabin, just a simple “stick” fuselage designed to carry cargo externally. Two Pratt & Whitney JFTD-12 turbine engines were used with a new dynamic system. The 72 foot diameter rotor was derived from the S-56/S-60 with a sixth blade added, plus additional blade chord for increased blade area. A nose wheel/main landing gear aft configuration, opposite to what was used on the S-60, was chosen to ease ground maneuvering around the payload. This was one of the lessons learned from the experimental S-60 program.

A tail skid was included to protect the tail in an extreme
nose-up landing. The cockpit was below the structure and included a third pilot’s station facing aft to be used to fly the aircraft as it attached and released the payload. The cockpit was sized to carry a crew of five – the pilot, copilot, aft-facing pilot, and two mechanics. Since the aircraft was designed to operate for extended periods in remote areas, it was decided to include space for the two mechanics onboard the aircraft. One other interesting feature is the lack of cowlings over the dynamic system hardware. Since speed, and therefore drag reduction, was not a requirement, it was decided to simplify maintenance access, reduce weight and save production costs by not using these cowlings.

The transmission is tilted 3 degrees to the left and not tilted forward. This allows it to hover level over the load being picked up. As a result of this, in cruise flight the cockpit is tilted to the right and the aircraft flies with a nose down attitude.

S-64 carrying a transmission tower

General Arrangement Drawing

Mission Systems

The aft-facing cockpit was included to ease picking up and releasing the cargo loads. This used limited authority electronic flight controls for precise control over the load, and is believed to be the first use of fly-by-wire controls on a helicopter. The pilots could override the aft station controls at any time.

A 20,000 pound capacity cargo hoist was included for single point suspension of the cargo load. Additionally there was a system of four small hoists of 5,000 pound capacity each to support the cargo in a different configuration. To further improve cargo handling on the ground, the landing gear could kneel over the load to facilitate attachment and detachment

S-64 carrying a bridge section at a construction site.

Various cargo/personnel pods were also designed and fabricated for internal cargo,personnel transport, medical, and maintenance purposes

S-64 with personnel pod Attached

Other Representative Missions

General Characteristics and Performance

S-64A

S-64E

S-64F

CH-54A

CH-54B

Design Gross Weight

38,000 lbs

38,000 lbs

47,000 lbs

Overload Gross Weight

41,000 lbs

42,000 lbs

N/A

Weight Empty

17,240 lbs

19,120 lbs

19,700 lbs

Useful Load

20,760 lbs

22,880 lbs

27,300 lbs

Payload

16,000 lbs

20,000 lbs

25,000 lbs

Rotor Diameter

72 ft

same

same

Tail Rotor Diameter

16 ft

same

same

Length

88 ft 6 ins

same

same

Height

25 ft 5 ins

same

same

Powerplant

Two P&WA

JFTD-12A-1

same

JFTD12A-4A

same JFDT12A-5A

Engine Power

4,050 hp

4,500 hp

4,800 hp

Transmission Limit

5,400 hp

6,600 hp

7,900 hp

Crew

3

same

same

Maximum Cruise Speed

102 knots

115 knots

104 knots

Range

166 nm

217 nm

208 nm

Hover Ceiling, In Ground Effect ft

9,700 ft

10,600

Service Ceiling

10,500 ft

13,000 ft

Rate of Climb

1,400 ft/min

1,700 ft/min

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With the simple light weight fuselage configuration, the cranes had very low empty weight to gross weight ratios, as low as .42 on the S-64F. Without payload this gave the aircraft outstanding performance. Numerous altitude and time-to-altitude records were broken by the Skycranes. In level flight the S-64F flew at 36,122 feet. Hover records were:

On May 1965 the crane demonstrated transport of 90 troops using the cabin pod.

Production History

United Aircraft Corporate approval for the design and development of the S-64 was given in April 1961. Up to the first flight on May 9, 1962 everything was company funded. In June 1963 the U.S. Army bought the six S-64s for evaluation at a cost of $13 million. The FAA Type Certificate was granted on July 30, 1965. The CH-54B configuration production began in 1969. Production by year was:

Year

Aircraft

1962

1

1963

1

1964

6

1965

0

1966

2

1967

22

1968

30

1969

13

1970

12

1971

7

1972

0

1973

1

1974

1

1975

3

This adds up to a total of 99 aircraft. Other sources in the Igor I. Sikorsky Historical Archives list a total of 101 aircraft - 54 CH54As and 35 CH-54Bs for the Army, and 12 S-64Es and Fs for commercial customers. Sikorsky also launched an effort to sell the S-64 commercially. A total of ten Skycranes were sold or leased to commercial customers between 1968 and 1976. Seven of these were sold to Ericson Air-Crane, Inc. of Medford Oregon for logging operations and some firefighting and construction activity. By the 1980s forest firefighting became the main mission for the Ericson cranes. In 1992 Sikorsky agreed to sell the Skycrane Type Certificate to Ericson. This transferred all manufacturing and support rights worldwide to Ericson for both the S-64E, with a 10-ton payload, and the S64F, with 12.5-ton payload. Ericson built up a fleet of S-64s rebuilding army surplus CH-54As and CH-54Bs. Their fleet rose to 18 aircraft by 2000. Additional Ericson Air-Cranes have been sold internationally. They continue in use today. The CH-54s were retired from Army service in 1995.

Ericson Air-Crane fighting a fire

Related Models

In 1968 Sikorsky proposed a growth crane to the Army, the S-64B, which used a 79 foot rotor and three engines with a new main gearbox. Originally both the General Electric T-64-GE-16 and the Lycoming T-55- l-11 were proposed. The design was for a payload of 17.9 tons, with a design gross weight of 50,000 lbs and an overload gross weight of 64,700 lbs. Weight empty was 26,669 lbs; maximum speed was 100 knots with payload and 130 knots without payload. This concept was not pursued beyond the proposal stage, but the three engine/79 foot rotor became the basis of the CH-53E, using the General Electric engines. The basic concept of the crane helicopter was extended by the army into the HLH, or Heavy Lift Helicopter. There was a competition for this aircraft between Sikorsky and Boeing Vertol. This was won by Boeing Vertol in 1973 using a tandem rotor configuration. The helicopter used two 92 ft diameter rotors in a tandem configuration and had a gross weight of 118,000 lbs. The program entered design and development but was terminated in 1974 before entering production due to development issues.

Additional information Sources

SKYCRANE – IGOR SIKORSKY’S LAST VISION, by John A McKenna, retired Sikorsky Executive Vice President. Published by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc. in 2010. ISBN 978-1-60086-756-9.